Question:

If a patent is assigned, will that change the “correspondence address” or “fee address”  used for maintenance fee purposes?

Answer:

An assignment of a patent application or patent does not result in a change of the “correspondence address” or “fee address” for maintenance fee purposes.

Chapter Details:

The answer to this question can be found in chapter 2500 of the MPEP. This chapter covers maintenance fees.

The answer is from the 9th Edition, Revision 07.2015. Depending on future changes to the MPEP, the question and answer may be applicable in later Editions or revisions.

Section Summary:

This question and answer comes from section 2540 of the MPEP.  The following is a brief summary of section 2540.

2540 Fee Address for Maintenance Fee Purposes

All notices will be directed to the correspondence address unless a “fee address” has been designated.

Maintenance fee reminders will be sent to the correspondence address used during the application prosecution unless a fee address is listed. Any assignments made will not receive any correspondence unless a change of correspondence address for the patent file has been sent in.